The 138 Sqdn left from Tuddenham at 1945-04-15 at 18:13. Loc or duty Potsdam
He flew with a Avro Lancaster (type I, serial RF143, code NF-O).
Campaign report of the USAAF:
STRATEGIC OPERATIONS
(Eighth Air Force):: 3 missions are flown.
Mission 951: 1,348 unescorted bombers are dispatched to visually attack strongpoints on the French Atlantic coast; the first two forces below make the sole operational employment of napalm bomb by the Eighth AF against German ground installations (pillboxes, gunpits, tank trenches, and heavy gun emplacements); the results are negligible and HQ recommends its discontinuance against this type of target:
1. 492 of 529 B-17s hit four strongpoints and flak batteries in the Royan area; 5 B-17s are damaged.
2. 341 of 359 B-24s hit six strongpoints and flak batteries in the Royan area; 1 B-24 is damaged beyond repair and 3 damaged; 2 airmen are KIA.
3. 442 of 457 B-17s hit 9 strongpoints and flak batteries in the Bordeaux/ Royan, Pointe Grave and Pointe Courbre area without loss.
4. 3 B-17s and 20 P-51s fly scouting missions.
5. 107 of 109 P-51s support Ninth AF B-26s; 1 is lost (pilot MIA).
6. 6 of 7 P-51s escort 6 F-5s on photo reconnaissance missions over Royan and Germany.
Mission 952: 1 Mosquito and 9 B-24s abort a mission to Lechfeld Airfield during the night.
Mission 953: 10 of 11 B-24s drop leaflets in France, the Netherlands and Germany during the night.
TACTICAL OPERATIONS
(Ninth Air Force): In Germany, 258 B-26s and A-26s bomb marshalling yards at Gunzburg and Ulm (primary targets) and several other targets including 3 marshalling yards; fighters escort the bombers, fly patrols and armed reconnaissance, and support the US 3d Armored Division near Dessau and across the Mulde River near Torten, the 9th Armored Division along the Mulde NW of Borna, the VIII Corps along Weisse Elster River between Gera and Plauen, the XX Corps astride the Mulde NE of Chemnitz (where the 6th Armored Division awaits Red Army forces), and the 2d Armored Division on the Elbe River near Magdeburg.
Unit moves in Germany: HQ 363d Tactical Reconnaissance Group from Venlo, the Netherlands to Gutersloh; HQ 368th Fighter Group and 395th and 396th Fighter Squadrons from Metz, France to Frankfurt-am-Main with P-47s; HQ 406th Fighter Group and 512th, 513th and 514th Fighter Squadrons from Assche, Belgium to Handorf with P-47s; 72d Liaison Squadron, Ninth AF (attached to Sixth Army Group) from Darmstadt to Kitzingen with L-5s; 153d Liaison Squadron, IX Tactical Air Command (attached to Twelfth Army Group) from Marburg to Bad Wildungen with L-5s.
Campaign report of the RAF:
14/15 April 1945
500 Lancasters and 12 Mosquitos of Nos 1, 3 and 8 Groups attacked Potsdam. This was the first time that Bomber Command 4-engined aircraft had entered the Berlin defence zone since March 1944 but the approach, across parts of Germany recently captured by Allied troops, and the Cuxhaven diversion led to only 1 Lancaster being lost; it was shot down by a night fighter.
This was the last raid of the war by a major Bomber Command force on a German city. The aiming point was the centre of Potsdam and the intention was to destroy the local barracks (depot of the old German Guards regiments) and the railway facilities. The attack was reasonably successful and severe damage was caused in Potsdam but bombs also fell in the nearby northern and eastern districts of Berlin.
24 Lancasters and 4 Mosquitos in a diversion raid to Cuxhaven, 62 Mosquitos to Berlin and 10 to Wismar, 54 RCM sorties, 50 Mosquito patrols. No aircraft lost.
Total effort for the night: 716 sorties, 1 aircraft (0.1 per cent) lost.
15/16 April 1945
106 Mosquitos to Berlin, 8 to Oranienburg airfield and 4 to Lechfeld airfield, 27 RCM sorties, 19 Mosquito patrols. 1 Mosquito of No 100 Group lost.
With thanks to the RAF and USAAF.net!
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